INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) – Experts say 21st-century technology offers a way to deliver much-needed mental health care to rural sections of Indiana where none is available.
They told a legislative study committee Thursday that providing psychiatric care through an encrypted computer video link is already helping some providers treat the mentally ill.
That care can range from counseling by a social worker to video conference group sessions led by a psychiatrist.
Dr. Jerry Sheward says telemedicine could improve mental health care in the 23 counties without a psychiatrist. He says Indiana has 462 psychiatrists, which isn't enough, and half of them live in the Indianapolis area.
Wellstone Regional Hospital chief executive Greg Stewart says distance is one major barrier to mental health care, and communicating with patients by computer can eliminate that problem.
